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[EwanM]

... Another point that was brought up earlier in the thread was 'why don't they give Heidfeld a couple of the practice sessions to run in?'. Whilst I can't see that happening as Schumacher will want to get as much running as possible, I would like to see most of the teams using this initiative as Force India are doing at the moment with Paul Di Resta! It would certainly make the practice sessions more interesting in my opinion, and would also give the third / test drivers something to do!!

I totally agree with that!

Are there any restrictions?

[zurich_allan]

... Another point that was brought up earlier in the thread was 'why don't they give Heidfeld a couple of the practice sessions to run in?'. Whilst I can't see that happening as Schumacher will want to get as much running as possible, I would like to see most of the teams using this initiative as Force India are doing at the moment with Paul Di Resta! It would certainly make the practice sessions more interesting in my opinion, and would also give the third / test drivers something to do!!

I totally agree with that!

Are there any restrictions?

Not that many this year. Each team is allowed 4 registered drivers, and can run any of those in P1 and P2, so long as the stewards have been notified which race driver they are replacing. F1 Sporting regulations 19.1 a-c.

So it's up to the teams really!

[EwanM]

... Another point that was brought up earlier in the thread was 'why don't they give Heidfeld a couple of the practice sessions to run in?'. Whilst I can't see that happening as Schumacher will want to get as much running as possible, I would like to see most of the teams using this initiative as Force India are doing at the moment with Paul Di Resta! It would certainly make the practice sessions more interesting in my opinion, and would also give the third / test drivers something to do!!

I totally agree with that!

Are there any restrictions?

Not that many this year. Each team is allowed 4 registered drivers, and can run any of those in P1 and P2, so long as the stewards have been notified which race driver they are replacing. F1 Sporting regulations 19.1 a-c.

So it's up to the teams really!

That's good. I agree with you, teams should find a way to run the younger drivers on Fridays. I realise that in this cost-cutting environment it would be impossible to implement it. I remember the days of 3 cars on Friday, but sadly they are gone like the spare car

[madbrad]

There is a whole herd of current seat occupiers less deserving than NH, one of which he should replace, car not being worthy notwithstanding. So why only pick on MS?

[Hexagram]

There is a whole herd of current seat occupiers less deserving than NH, one of which he should replace, car not being worthy notwithstanding. So why only pick on MS?

Because MS happens to occupy the 2nd seat of the team NH has the 3rd seat in.

[bmwpower]

There is a whole herd of current seat occupiers less deserving than NH, one of which he should replace, car not being worthy notwithstanding. So why only pick on MS?

Because Heidfeld deserved something better then Virgin, Lotus, Sauber, Williams, etc... It would be nice to see him driving for the top 3 teams to see how far he can go.

[bmwpower]

hakkinen

Its hard to bring somebody back that wanted to leave and not comeback, just imagine the motivation Hakkinen will bring...oh wait he doesn't have any because he doesn't want to drive an F1 car no more.

[QKS]

Because Heidfeld deserved something better then Virgin, Lotus, Sauber, Williams, etc... It would be nice to see him driving for the top 3 teams to see how far he can go.

I wouldn't say so. Look at Timo Glock. He was quite strong last season (taking the fact how the car was performing). He could have gone to Renault or Sauber and maybe another team... But decieded to get a safe seat (at that time there where rumours Renault was quiting the sport...). So he took a seat at Virgin. He ain't going to win races or get podium finishes this year. But it is a big challenge to be in a new team a try to make it better, to improve it. I respect Glock for that! So, it's not fair to say Heidfeld would deserver something better than that.....
I believe (I actually think I read it in an article), that Heidfeld didn't wanted to pay $$$ for a seat in a car. Maybe, if he would have done so, he would be racing now, and then maybe would have gotten the chance to have a "better" car for next season. Now he got nothing.... (so much about "deserving"....)

[zurich_allan]

I hope that Nick gets another chance in F1. He definitely deserves it as he's a very talented and experienced driver.

Yes he is! But, he didn't managed for quite a lot of races to drive the BMW quickly enough around the track. And that is a pitty. (Did I said this before....?). And it may be something that is happening to Schumi as well. But F1 goes by so quickly, that if you don't show your potential on a "daily" basis, there's someone else who can....
As most or all of the drivers and other people too say, if drviers gets into F1 he/she has to be good. There's no way around it. I'm no Heidfeld fan, but anyway thumbs up and the best for him!

One thing I would pick up on in this is the comment that Heidfeld didn't drive the BMW quick enough. In the course of 3 and a bit full seasons together, Heidfeld actually outscored (by 144 points to 137 for Kubica) Kubica , yet everybody rates Kubica as a very good F1 driver and Heidfeld is without a race seat. But over a prolonged period of time Heidfeld outscored him. Why is that? Any driver can have a good season or two (Irvine in 1999, or even Montoya or Ralf at times, Kubica in 2008, and btw, I'm not saying that I don't rate Kubica before anybody comments!), but surely a good measure of true ability is to beat your team mate over a prolonged period, as Heidfeld did?

I think I've said before on the forum, in my opinion Heidfeld is better than most people give him credit for, his problem (if you could call it one) is that he's too nice and quiet and just goes about his business extremely efficiently but flies under a lot of teams radars by not crashing out spectacularly or moaning when his car's not ideal... He can sit quite quietly in 2nd or 3rd place and yet still go completely unnoticed.

A final point, I'm quite sure that were Heidfeld a better qualifier then he would actually have been substantially ahead in terms of points than Kubica whilst at BMW, rather than just by a small margin.

[QKS]

Yes, ture, but F1 is no just about racing (how sad is that.... ) It's also about charme, attitude, PR, marketing, money money money...!

[zurich_allan]

Yes, ture, but F1 is no just about racing (how sad is that.... ) It's also about charme, attitude, PR, marketing, money money money...!

Yup, a sad day indeed, though one could of course argue that it's always been the case (pay-to-race drivers, those with family connections etc. in the past).

I don't like it, but at least with a few of the large manufacturers giving way to some smaller independent teams it has started to level the playing field somewhat.

[EwanM]

The problem with Heidfeld (thoughout his career) was that he wasn't ruthless enough when outside the cockpit.

After he had been part of McLaren-Mercedes's camp for so many years, he found himself pushed to one side in favour of Raikkonen.

Had he managed to claim the McLaren seat in 2002 then it might have been so very different. He would be up there in a top team instead of spending years in lower teams, often fighting to stay in the sport.

[Jamie]

Mercedes, can we bring back Heidfeld now?

If Schumi can't improve then i would let him have a 1 race shot. But the amount of Money he brings in? there is no chance. he has got the everything really and i can't see Nic being as good of a business giant as he is?

[Hansy]

Because Heidfeld deserved something better then Virgin, Lotus, Sauber, Williams, etc... It would be nice to see him driving for the top 3 teams to see how far he can go.

I wouldn't say so. Look at Timo Glock. He was quite strong last season (taking the fact how the car was performing). He could have gone to Renault or Sauber and maybe another team... But decieded to get a safe seat (at that time there where rumours Renault was quiting the sport...). So he took a seat at Virgin. He ain't going to win races or get podium finishes this year. But it is a big challenge to be in a new team a try to make it better, to improve it. I respect Glock for that! So, it's not fair to say Heidfeld would deserver something better than that.....
I believe (I actually think I read it in an article), that Heidfeld didn't wanted to pay $$$ for a seat in a car. Maybe, if he would have done so, he would be racing now, and then maybe would have gotten the chance to have a "better" car for next season. Now he got nothing.... (so much about "deserving"....)

The thing is, Heidfeld DOES deserve a hell of a lot better than a back-running team. He needs to kick Schumacher out of that seat ASAP. And Glock is wasting his time on Virgin too.

Sauber had the best lineup of the grid last year. It's an atrocity Heidfeld is out of the championship. Stupid BMW quitting because of ONE bad year. Stupid stupid stupid.

[bmwpower]

Because Heidfeld deserved something better then Virgin, Lotus, Sauber, Williams, etc... It would be nice to see him driving for the top 3 teams to see how far he can go.

I wouldn't say so. Look at Timo Glock. He was quite strong last season (taking the fact how the car was performing). He could have gone to Renault or Sauber and maybe another team... But decieded to get a safe seat (at that time there where rumours Renault was quiting the sport...). So he took a seat at Virgin. He ain't going to win races or get podium finishes this year. But it is a big challenge to be in a new team a try to make it better, to improve it. I respect Glock for that! So, it's not fair to say Heidfeld would deserver something better than that.....
I believe (I actually think I read it in an article), that Heidfeld didn't wanted to pay $$$ for a seat in a car. Maybe, if he would have done so, he would be racing now, and then maybe would have gotten the chance to have a "better" car for next season. Now he got nothing.... (so much about "deserving"....)

I hope you are not comparing Heidfeld to Timo